Iris Van der Veken
Executive Director & Secretary General,
Watch & Jewellery Initiative 2030 (WJI 2030)
When one woman breaks a barrier, she doesn’t just create a path for herself—she opens the door for countless others to rise, lead with strength, courage, dignity, and a renewed sense of purpose. Her courage becomes contagious and a catalyst for positive impact, inspiring a ripple effect to other women and men that transform communities and generations. The time is now.
I support the IGC Panel Parity Pledge.
I support the IGC gender-based violence pledge.
Personal Commitments
In 2026, WJI 2030 will launch the Gender-Responsive Procurement (GRP) Toolbox and develop a clear pathway for operationalising the toolbox across the value chain, with a specific focus on SMEs in the supply chain. Building on the collaboration in 2025 between WJI 2030, UN Women’s WEPs Secretariat, experts, and member companies to create tools supporting the integration of gender equality into procurement practices, the GRP Toolbox will be launched in 2026. Designed to be flexible and practical, it supports companies at different stages of maturity and includes a business case for GRP, a supplier evaluation checklist, contract and code of conduct templates, a training toolkit, and a good practices guide.
A core component of the rollout through 2026 will be a hands-on approach to support companies in operationalising the toolbox, including trainings and help-desks, enabling consistent assessment, capacity building, and effective implementation of gender-responsive procurement practices.
By 2027, in partnership with UN Women and ESG Book, WJI 2030 will have launched the Transparency and Accountability Reporting Roadmap and piloted its application across industries, integrating feedback to enhance and refine the approach. Since 2021, the WEPs Transparency and Accountability Framework (TAF) has supported companies in tracking and reporting progress on gender equality. In response to fragmented metrics and evolving global reporting standards, UN Women and WJI 2030 launched an update in 2025, which evolved into a comprehensive Transparency and Accountability Roadmap.
Aligned with global standards and informed by WEPs signatories, the Roadmap provides a practical, phased, and coherent approach for companies at different maturity levels to measure, manage, and disclose their gender equality impacts. The Roadmap will be launched in 2026, setting the foundation for trial and piloting throughout 2026, with refinement continuing into 2026/2027 to strengthen transparency as a driver of impact and accountability across the WEPs principles and pillars.